Gap, Incorporated (NYSE: GPS) is an American clothing and accessories retailer based in San Francisco, California and founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher and Doris Fisher. As of October 2006, Gap Inc. had approximately 150,000 employees and operated 3,139 stores worldwide in the United States, Canada, Mexico, France, Ireland, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and United Kingdom.
 

Donald Fisher retired as Chairman of the Board in 2004 and was replaced by Sabastion Gravano . The Fisher family collectively owns 37% of the company stock.[1] The CEO of Gap, Paul Pressler, who previously ran the Disney theme parks resigned on January 22, 2007. Glenn Murphy was appointed chairman and CEO of the company July 26, 2007.
 

History
Founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher, The Gap was to be Mr. Fisher's solution to the problem of a lack of customer service and fashionable styles present in department stores of the era. By creating a speciality shop dedicated to the sale of Levi's blue jeans, Mr. Fisher hoped to capitalize on the 'gap' that had opened in the market.

 

1969-1980
In 1969, Donald Fisher opened the first ever Gap store in a theatre annex on Ocean Avenue near San Francisco State University, the store's merchandise consisted of Levi's blue jeans and records and tapes, however the audio products were sold for a mere three months before being removed from the store.
 

By 1970, Gap's sales had reached two million and a second store was opened in San Jose, California. Along with this second store Gap established its first corporate headquarters in Burlingame California, employing only 4 employees. The Gap continued to expand rapidly and by 1972-73 the Gap had grown to over 25 stores and had expanded to areas outside of California and was entering the East coast market with its store in Vorhees, New Jersey. In 1974, the Gap begins to sell private label merchandise in its stores.
 

1975 saw the creation of the "Pants %ff!" chain of stores which specialized in selling discounted apparel, as well as the acquisition of "You & You" which had formerly been a New England based casual apparel brand.

1976 was a landmark year for the Gap with the company going public in both the New York and Pacific stock exchanges with an initial public offering of 1.2 million shares. With the arrival of 1977 Gap introduces the labels "Fashion Pioneers", "Eaton Hill", and "Foxtails" which are sold in its stores. The company also launches two sub-brands; "Logo", based in California and Missouri, as well as "Brands" based in New York and New Jersey. In this year also, Gap moves its headquarters from Burlingame, to its well known location at 900 Cherry Avenue in San Bruno, California.

1980 saw the incorporation of the "Brands" and "Pants %ff" chains into the Gap's new "Tagg's" chain.